₦airaland Forum

efilefun:
But our brothers from the east makes us believe Aregbeshola is the only governor who owes salaries...hmmmm its high time this thieves are stoned.

[7] The N140b Oshiomhole said was wasted on Admin cost on the bridge was a lie, as admin cost will not be higher the to cost of the whole project.

[8] Buhari’s Govt Paid N2billion NOT $2billion as Osinbajo said during the Anambra state election. They will be paying another N3.05 when 2018 budget is approved.

Following the recent declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari to seek re-election in the 2019 elections, some bigwigs in the ruling All Progressives Congress, whose presidential ambitions have been threatened by the President’s move, have been talking to other parties to get their presidential tickets, Saturday PUNCH findings have shown.

The Social Democratic Party, the Labour Party, the Accord Party and the Coalition for Nigeria Movement confirmed on Friday that they had been receiving overtures from APC governors, senators and other chieftains of the party interested in contesting in the presidential election.

Although the CNM is not a political party, it is a growing political platform established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which could have influence on future elections.

However, none of the parties and the CNM was willing to give out the names of the APC chieftains and members of the other parties that had approached them for presidential tickets.

President Buhari had on Monday officially announced his intention to seek re-election in 2019 at the APC National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja.

Though the APC had said that Buhari wouldn’t be the party’s sole aspirant, it is believed in many quarters that he would eventually secure the party’s presidential ticket.

APC govs, senators reaching out to us –SDP, LP, AP

The SDP told Saturday PUNCH that several governors and senators in the APC had approached the party, seeking to become its presidential aspirant since the President’s declaration appeared to have shut them out of the race.

The SDP’s Spokesperson, Alfa Mohammed, who confirmed this in an interview, however, said he could not disclose names yet, as events were still unfolding.

Mohammed said, “Prominent and progressive-minded APC members are discussing with us. They include serving senators and governors.

“But, we will not give automatic tickets to any of them. It is the will of the national delegates at our convention that will prevail.

Similarly, the National Chairman, Labour Party, Dr. Mike Omotosho, said many political bigwigs from the ruling party had been making overtures to get the party’s presidential ticket. He, however, declined to mention their names.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Friday, he added that some Nigerians in the Diaspora had also been making moves for the party’s presidential slot.

He said, “We have more than five political bigwigs from the APC talking to us about their interests. We will present a presidential candidate; it is not about their interest but the ideology they are bringing in. Their ideology must tally with providing equal opportunities and social justice. If their manifestoes are not about the masses, there is no way we can work with such a candidate.

“We have not taken any decision yet because there is strong internal democracy in our party. We have to take the decision at the special convention where the presidential candidate of the party will be chosen. We are currently having our bridal dance.”

Efforts by Saturday PUNCH to speak with the National Secretary of the Accord Party, Adebukola Ajaja, were not successful as she was said to be meeting with some politicians in Abuja.

But one of the party’s chieftains in Oyo State, Sheu Odedele, said the party had been receiving overtures from some chieftains of the APC and other parties interested in contesting in the presidential election, saying that three of them were being considered for the party’s presidential ticket.

He said, “The Accord Party is the party for Nigerians. We have been approached by notable politicians, including members of the ruling party. It is too early to give their names because we are still considering their profiles.

“The three candidates are from the North. Each of them is serious about being the presidential candidate of our party. The National Secretary, Ajaja, has been meeting the three candidates in Abuja for the past few days. One of them will be the presidential candidate of our party in the next election.

“Several APC members, who are now aggrieved, are also joining our party. In Oyo State, a number of them have declared their interest in being the party’s governorship candidate.”

Buhari won’t be our sole aspirant, says APC

Meanwhile, the national leadership of the APC has said President Buhari will have to slug it out with other aspirants that decide to join the race, in line with the party’s constitution.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Friday, said that the party would welcome other members who have presidential ambitions.

There have been speculations that APC chieftains like the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and the former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, are interested in getting the presidential ticket of the party.

However, Saraki, speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, had recently described reports that he would run for the presidency as false

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who was a founding member of the APC, had recently defected to the Peoples Democratic Party when it was becoming apparent that the President would seek a re-election.

Abdullahi, however, said there was no need for anyone to leave, saying the party would provide a level-playing field for all.

He said, “Yes, the President has signified his intention to run on the ticket of the party once again. We welcome that. However, to answer your question, he is not going to be our sole aspirant for the election. Other aspirants are going to be accommodated because we are going to conduct a free, fair and credible primary election.

“Democracy will not grow when we have a sole aspirant for elective offices. Therefore, we welcome others with similar ambition.”

But despite Abdullahi’s assurance, findings showed that some bigwigs in the APC also interested in its presidential ticket had not just started looking for other political platforms where they could realise their ambitions, they had been making overtures to the Obasanjo’s coalition.

The Director of Media and Public Communications, CNM, Akin Osuntokun, confirmed to Saturday PUNCH that some APC chieftains had been approaching the group for support.

“Of course, but we cannot mention names,” he said when asked if APC chieftains threatened by Buhari’s declaration to seek re-election had started seeking the support of the group.

He said, “But you can guess the names of some of them. The APC is going to implode and where those people will go is open to speculation, but since many of them had defected to the APC from the PDP, I doubt if they would take the option of returning to the PDP.”

Responding to whether the coalition would be willing to lend support to the APC chieftains who have been making overtures, Osuntokun said, “Yes, of course, that is why we call it a coalition. We already anticipated that right from the outset. Actually, many of them were privy to the inception or birth of the CNM.

“Eventually, the decision of which party to support (by the CNM) will be taken together by everybody and that is why the CNM is not in a hurry to talk about one party or the other. We can exercise patience so that we can accommodate the inputs of critical stakeholders who are coming on board.”

When asked if the CNM would be endorsing any candidate or whether it would register as a political party in light of the new development, Osuntokun said consultations were still ongoing.

He added, “The only pressure to form a party is because of the Ekiti and Osun elections, which will be coming soon. Apart from these, we still have time to do a lot ahead of the 2019 elections.

We have time to accommodate as many people as possible. There are many stakeholders who will still come on board.”

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on March 18, 2018, that Kwankwaso and some political parties had been meeting with Obasanjo as part of moves to strategise for the 2019 elections.

It was reported that in one of such meetings, which held at Protea Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Obasanjo was said to have met with 35 political parties under the aegis of the Coalition for New Nigeria.

Party in talks to field Atiku in 2019

In a related development, the National Chairman of the All Grassroots Alliance, Dr. Olukayode Oshiariyo, on Friday, said that the party was in talks with the Atiku Solidarity Group, a group backing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 presidential election.

The party, however, stated that before it could field the former Vice President, he must agree to carry out the programmes of the party and not necessarily his own.

Oshiariyo said part of the party’s programmes was to introduce one-time six-year tenure for President and governors and having a unitary parliamentary system in the country.

He added that the party was ready to field Atiku if he agreed to the terms and conditions for using the AGA platform to realise his 2019 presidential ambition.

He said, “Yes, let me confirm that our Contact and Mobilisation Committee is in high-level discussion with the Atiku Solidarity Group on how Atiku would contest the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the All Grassroots Alliance.”

We’ll field candidates to challenge Buhari, 14 parties declare

All other things being equal, 13 political parties registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission have said they would field candidates to challenge Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

The national chairmen of the Labour Party, Omotosho; the KOWA Party, Saidu Bobboi; the National Conscience Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko; the Unity Party of Nigeria, Prof. Bankole Okuwa; the People’s Alliance for National Development and Liberty, Ambassador Abah Lewis; the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party, Tope Fasua; the All Grassroots Alliance, Dr. Olukayode Oshiariyo; Democratic Alternative, Prince Frank Ukonga; the Freedom and Justice Party, Dr. Onwubuya Abraham; the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Agbo Major; the Better Nigeria Progressive Party, Prof Godswill Nnanji, and the New Generation Party of Nigeria, Dr. Yakubu Shendam, in separate interviews with Saturday PUNCH, said presidential candidates would fly their parties’ flags against Buhari in the 2019 elections.

The National Chairman of the Action Peoples Party, Mr. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, said if President Buhari must be voted out of office, a coalition might be the way out. He, however, said in the absence of such a platform yet, the APP was making arrangements to field a candidate for the next presidential election.

“Buhari said it himself that at age 72, there were certain things he could not do, is it when he is 78 years old that he wants to do those things?” Shendam asked.

The National Secretary of Nigeria Democratic Congress Party, Mr. Abdulkareem Matori, said the party’s national convention would hold on Monday where a decision would be taken on the party’s preparation for 2019 general elections.

Secondus woos Chidoka back to PDP

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, represented by the Deputy National Chairman of the party, Senator Babayo Gamawa, on Friday, led a team of PDP leaders to Obosi, Idemili North Local Government of Anambra State to urge a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, to return to the PDP.

Secondus said the delegation came to Chidoka because it was convinced that he remained a PDP member “in body, blood and spirit.”

President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed on Friday that the negotiations between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram terrorists for the release of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls had suffered unexpected setbacks.

The president said this was mainly owing to a lack of agreement among the girls' abductors whose internal differences, he explained, had led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the negotiations.

Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Malam Garba Shehu, said he joined the Borno State government, the parents of the girls and Nigerians in commemorating the fourth anniversary of the sad incident, praying that the event at the daughters’ school on Saturday would go well.

Buhari, however, assured the parents of the schoolgirls that were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014 that “their daughters will never be forgotten or abandoned to their fate, despite four long years since they were taken away by terrorists.’’

“Unfortunately, the negotiations between the government and Boko Haram suffered some unexpected setbacks owing mainly to a lack of agreement among their abductors, whose internal differences have led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the talks.

"We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.

“However, this government is not relenting. We will continue to persist, and the parents should please not give up. Don't give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again. Don't lose faith in this government's ability to fulfil our promise of reuniting you with our daughters.

“Don't imagine for a moment that we have forgotten about our daughters or that we consider their freedom a lost course,’’ the president said

He urged the parents to keep their hopes alive on the return of their daughters, saying the recovery of more than a 100 of the girls that were kidnapped through the Federal Government’s determined effort should give confidence that all "hope is not lost''.

The president re-affirmed that the government remained focused and determined to see the girls return to their homes.
He asked the parents to be expectant of more good news in due course.

“We are concerned and aware that it is taking long to bring the rest of our daughters back home, but be assured that this administration is doing its very best to free the girls from their captors," Buhari said.

He assured that as long as he remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Chibok girls would never be forgotten and all would be done to have them reunited with their families.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

Makurdi – Despite the renewed attacks on some communities in Benue by herdsmen, a chieftain of the APC in the state, Dr Joseph Orkar, is optimistic that President Muhammadu Buhari will provide an enduring solution to the crises.

Speaking on Friday in Makurdi, Orkar, immediate past Deputy Chairman of the party in the state, said the crises would not continue to linger on ” as solutions will soon be found”.
“The president has promised to provide a solution to it and we just have to wait for that solution,” he advised.

He said the attacks on rural communities were condemnable but assured that ” very soon they will become a thing of the past”.

Orkar said the president’s delay in combating the herders attacks was not tantamount to unwillingness to deal with the situation but an act of deliberate planning.

“As a Tiv man in Benue, where the attacks are worse hit, it is painful but I assure you, the president will find a solution to it, it will not continue like this; we can’t say the killings have erased his achievements in other areas.

“Remember where we are coming from, you need to know the quantum of rot and decay that was in the system before Mr president took over, its not easy dealing with the issues but the man is doing his best,” he said.

He said the APC would adhere strictly to the its guidelines on the conduct of congresses and shun impunity to ensure the election of credible state officers to handle party affairs.

He said Gov Samuel Ortom was still the best candidate for the APC in the state and lambasted those criticizing him as been unfair to him.

According to him, if by 2019, they was another aspirant with better credentials than Ortom, he will support such person.

Orkar commended the agricultural programs of the Federal Government saying, they impacted positively on the food value chain.

The party chieftain pointed out that more farmers were engaged in local production of crops which has brought down massive importation of food into the country.

” Local rice production has increased thereby leading to massive decline in rice importation during this administration,” he explained.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

In a daring move, a committee of the House of Representatives has decided to invite Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to appear before it.

The committee’s decision on Thursday was reached as part of its investigation into an agency, whose board Mr. Osinbajo chairs.

The committee is investigating alleged violation of public trust by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) that led to the suspension of six directors of the agency.

Mr. Osinbajo is the chairman of the governing board of the NEMA and the lawmakers want him to explain his role in the suspension of the officials as well as other scandals rocking the agency.

At its public hearing, the committee, on emergency and disaster preparedness, also summoned Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

The 35-member committee, headed by Ali Isa (Gombe-PDP), also resolved to invite the representatives of the State Security Service, pension commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service, as well as ministers of agriculture, national planning and finance.

The next stage for the committee is to write the affected persons, including Mr Osinbajo, to appear before them.

The National Assembly, or its designated committee, has constitutional powers to summon all government appointees, with lawyers saying neither the president nor the vice president is constitutionally exempted from such summons.

A senior lawyer, Simon Ameh, told PREMIUM TIMES the invitation was in order so long as the vice president would not have to talk on any other matter to do with his office.
“If they will focus only on NEMA, it is in order,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said.

He added that the constitution gives the legislature power to oversight the executive, hence the National Assembly has powers to invite any occupier of such position.

Another lawyer, Ola Adeosun, agreed with the submission, saying the National Assembly is empowered under section 88 of the constitution to summon any government official, including the president.

“The invitation is in order” he said.

THE NEMA SCANDAL

The governing council of NEMA on the same day it was inaugurated on April 3, suspended six directors of the agency. The affected officials allegedly kicked against the NEMA DG’s contract awards in breach of due process.

The House committee, however, demanded the immediate recall of the six directors.

It said the civil service rule was grossly abused, and natural justice turned upside down in the ways and manners the directors were placed on suspension.

The suspended officers are Director of Finance and Accounts, Akinbola Gbolahan; Ag. Director, Special Duties, Umesi Emenike; and Director, Risk Reduction, Alhassan Nuhu.
Others are pilot in charge of Air Ambulance and Aviation Unit, Mamman Ibrahim; the Chief Maintenance Officer, Ganiyu Deji; and the Director of Welfare, Kanar Mohammed.

During the cause of investigation, the committee said it discovered N3.1 billion was approved and released for the agency by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for procurement of rice for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Boko Haram-ravaged North-east.

It said the Director-General of the agency, Mustapha Maihaja, expended the sum on award of contracts to companies with no legal qualifications to get contract from the federal government.

Two of the companies, Olam Limited, a foreign firm, and Three Brothers Rice Mill, were said to have been awarded huge rice supply contract without meeting the pre-qualification conditions.

It was also discovered that the Chinese government donated 6,779 metric tonnes of rice in June 2017 but a large part of it was abandoned by NEMA for about one year at the ports without clearing. As of today, the lawmakers said, the rice has accumulated about N800 million in port charges.

Mr. Maihaja, while appearing on Thursday before the committee, admitted that his agency has so far paid N400 million as part of the demurrage.

The committee frowned at NEMA for spending N400 million taxpayers fund on the demurrage on the rice due to the long delay in clearing the containers.

Mr. Maihaja is expected to report to the committee with relevant documents relating to the rice donation and other allegations at the next hearing. No date was fixed for the next hearing.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the present administration is paying N5,000 monthly to over 300,000 of the poorest families across the country.

The vice president said the payment was being done without discrimination along party lines.

Speaking on Thursday in Umuahia at the launch of Abia State Tele-Health Support Centre, Osinbajo said the federal government was giving loans to over 300,000 traders and artisans, feeding 125,624 pupils in 742 schools “and we have 1,569 cooks in total; for microcredit loans under our GEEP scheme, we have given loans to 7,585 small businesses."

He said the government had so far invested about N2.4 billion of the Social Investment Programmes' funds in Abia State "and specifically in healthcare, we have the Saving One Million Lives Initiative, which has made available $1.5 million to each state government – including Abia State – to improve the quality of basic healthcare available especially to our women and children."

The vice president said the federal government's plan for the
nation was a universal health coverage for all Nigerians.

"Health insurance is the most effective way of ensuring access to healthcare when needed and at the same time funding our healthcare system, and ensuring that healthcare personnel are well rewarded," he said.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to the welfare of all Nigerians, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, regardless of their ethnic or political affiliations.

"This commitment has meant two things. First is President Buhari’s determination to break from the past where the federal government only supported states where the party in office was their own. At the inauguration of the NEC in 2015, he publicly declared that our own NEC will assist every state because poverty in our nation is no respecter of ethnic group, religion or party affiliation. Consequently, as of today the federal government has supported states without discrimination along party lines to the tune of N1.91 Trillion.

"The second is that the Federal government has prioritized social and economic policies and programmes that will bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number of our people. We have examples of these in our Social Investment Programmes. Today, we are feeding 7.5 million children in our Home-grown School Feeding Programme in 22 States. We have employed 200,000 graduates in our N-Power scheme, 300,000 more are waiting to be formally engaged. Every single local government in Nigeria is covered," Osinbajo said.

He said the creation of the Abia State Tele-Health Support Centre would reduce the time spent travelling in search of healthcare, or waiting in line to see a doctor in healthcare facilities and close the access-to-healthcare gap between urban and rural areas.

"It will also make Abia State standout, within and outside Nigeria, as a forward-looking, people-centred state; one that is open to new ideas and to life-changing innovation," the vice president added.

Nitefury:
Baba na me o..
Longest time boss.
YNWA. The boys did us proud

Successvibes11:
LMAO
sharp guy, you don dey deny your father land

Successvibes11:
This bros dey vex o.
Anyway, he's not my president. Remember I stated clearly, "your president".

Successvibes11:
LMAO
Give your president another chance naw

Sarang:
lol you never even start

Sarang:
lol how nah



Please see my signature

Successvibes11:
He's on his way to Cotonou

Successvibes11:
WTF!!
*Faints*
*wakes up*

I'm relocating to another planet; nobody, I repeat, nobody should hold me.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Thursday ordered the immediate disbandment of a group, Parliamentary Support Group, in the senate

It is not clear if Mr Saraki, as senate president, has such constitutional powers to disband a freely formed group, especially as the constitution guarantees freedom of association. However, none of the members of the pro-Buhari group, raised objection when Mr. Saraki gave the directive.

The group was formed in March by pro-Buhari senators after a face-off with their colleagues on the amendment to the electoral act.

The group emerged in public through an obituary advertisement placed in some national dailies on March 20 and 21 over the death of one of their members, Ali Wakili.

Early April, members of the group including Abdullahi Adamu, Ovie Omo-Agege, Abu Ibrahim, Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf, Babajide Omoworare, Ali Ndume, openly identified with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura as his parliamentary support group.

The Senate, adopting a motion moved by Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto-APC), also mandated its committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, to probe both Mr Adamu and Mr Omo-Agege for their roles as chairman and secretary of the group respectively.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Omo-Agege was suspended by his colleagues for accusing them of working against Mr Buhari’s reelection bid in 2019 through the amendment of the electoral act.

While debating on the report that led to the suspension of Mr Omo-Agege on Thursday, the existence of the group was once again mentioned by Kabir Marafa (Zamfara-APC).

“Mr President, in as much as I am against the suspension of any senator but I am equally against the formation of any other group in this chamber. The formation of the parliamentary support group is evil and it should not stand, it is counter-productive and against the president himself,” Mr Marafa said.

Ruling over the issue, Mr Saraki ordered the group be disbanded.

“Distinguished Colleagues, a number of points have been raised. One borders on the issue of preserving the integrity of this institution. To me, that is what i think is the most important thing for us.

“Second, is where we take actions that are not sincere. I think in this chamber, if we want to talk about who has the right to say he is chairman of a Parliamentary Support Group for Mr President both by action and by what we have done, I think that I have the right to lead that more than anyone else here.

“Those of us that understand politics, understand that because of our own peculiar interest, sometimes some people decide to act like they are holier than thou or more committed — at the expense of others. This is not something that we should tolerate, and I believe that in an institution like this we must show discipline, but at the same time we must also show compassion.

“Distinguished Colleagues, there must be discipline. We must show that such groups must be suspended and the case in court must be withdrawn. I think by that we would have captured, no more of these kind of groups in the Senate.”

The disbandment of the group was also part of the recommendations adopted by the Senate.

Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari in faraway United Kingdom gave reasons why he declared his intention to seek re-election in 2019, saying he joined the race to silence naysayers.

Buhari while playing host to the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby in London on Wednesday, said, “I declared before leaving home because Nigerians were talking too much about whether I would run or not.

“So, I felt I should break the ice. We have many things to focus on, like security, agriculture, economy, anti-corruption, and many others. We needed to concentrate on them, and politics should not be a distraction. The majority of Nigerians appreciate what we are doing, and that is why I am re-contesting”, the president said.

It would be recalled that ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida had at various times championed opposition against the second term ambition of Muhammadu Buhari, citing gross failures and ineptitude in his style of administering the country since 2015 when the government came on board.

They had also played up the age factor, insisting that the president was too old to govern the country effectively, hence should take a deserved rest.

Buhari had taken stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) by surprise during their National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Monday at the party’s secretariat to declare his intention to seek office for a second term.

Shortly after he let the cat out of the bag, he jetted out of the country to the United Kingdom where he is to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May, prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings scheduled for April 18 to 20, 2018.

According to a statement by Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, the president’s success stories cuts across various sectors of the economy, with agriculture being the most significant.

“We have cut the importation of rice by about 90%, saving billions of dollars in the process. People who rushed into petrol money have now gone back to agriculture. Even professionals have gone back to the land. Nigeria should be able to feed itself comfortably soon. I am so pleased,” the statement quoted Buhari as saying.

On war against insurgency, Buhari told his guest that the crisis that consumed former Libyan leader, Muammar Gadhafi, cannot be extricated from the current farmers-herders crisis, as arms found their way into the wrong set of people, a development that culminated in the Boko Haram issue as well.

He noted that there was a need for continuous education of the people “so that they can be free from religious manipulation,” adding that no true religion advocates the hurting or killing of the innocent.

Responding to his guest’s comment on the clashes between herdsmen and farmers in different parts of Nigeria, the president submitted, “The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made worse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different parts of the West African sub-region. These gunmen were trained and armed by Muammar Gadhafi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with their arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. Herdsmen that we used to know carried only sticks and maybe a cutlass to clear the way, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons. The problem is not religious, but sociological and economic. But we are working on solutions.”

He lamented that “irresponsible politics” has been brought into the farmers-herders’ crisis, but assured that enduring solutions would be found, and justice done to all concerned.

On Leah Sharibu, the schoolgirl from Dapchi still being held by insurgents, reportedly because she refused to renounce her Christian faith, the president said, “We are managing the matter quietly. Making noise would not help. We are collecting as much intelligence as possible, working with the Red Cross and other international organisations. There are too many fraudulent people around, who claim they can do this and that. We won’t deal with them. That was how we got the Dapchi girls back, and the Chibok girls.”

In his response, Archbishop Welby said it was always a delight to see President Buhari, whom he has a tremendous respect for, adding: “You have my best wishes on your recent decision. I read your declaration speech. We are neutral as a church, but we will pray for you. Great statesmen are those who run for the good of their country. We will be praying for you.”

The Archbishop presented President Buhari with a copy of his recent book, ‘Re-imagining Britain. Foundations for Hope.’

Meanwhile, moves to curb the excesses of terrorism in the country has seen the Federal Government approving the establishment of Nigerian Army University in Biu, Borno State.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this on Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Recall that Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, had, last June, said the army had already reached out to the National Universities Commission (NUC) to secure approval for the university.

Buratai had then explained that the university was being designed as a unique and specialised institution that would serve as solutions centre, especially to specific challenges facing the military and North East.

As reactions continue to trail Monday’s declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari that he would seek re-election in the 2019 general elections, there are indications that some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would dump the ruling party ahead of the polls.

The looming defection, New Telegraph learnt, is because the President’s confirmation of his second term bid has foreclosed the ambitions of some APC chieftains also eyeing the party’s presidential ticket.

A party source, who disclosed this to our correspondent, said the presidential hopefuls, mostly outgoing governors of northern extraction and top ranking federal lawmakers, have to look elsewhere to realise their respective ambitions.

According to him, there is no doubt that presidential ambitions of these younger northern politicians in the APC have been buried because Buhari would have little or no opposition in picking the party’s ticket.

His words: “There is no doubt that the jostle for the APC presidential ticket is over because President Buhari will have had little or no opposition in picking the party’s ticket as it is certain that he will have had the right of first refusal as an incumbent.

“At the moment, he is the only person to have officially declared for the party’s ticket and it is unlikely that anyone else will do. And with the way the President had his way in the recent impasse over tenure elongation for members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), it is clear that he is now fully in control of the party structure.

“So, it is expected that anyone who has a presidential ambition within the party should look elsewhere as it will be foolhardy for anyone to face him at the primaries.”

The belief in some political quarters before now was that the President will not seek for re-election, given his health and age. He is 75 years and would be 76 by May 2019, when his first tenure elapses.

There was also an alleged agreement that the President would serve only one term to pave way for other interests in the party to have a shot at the presidency given that the APC is an amalgam of three major opposition parties – Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

It was against this backdrop that some northern political leaders within the ruling party, at a time, started shopping for his replacement ahead of 2019, to avoid being caught napping.

Among those touted then were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Senate President Bukola Saraki; former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Governors Kashim Shettima (Borno), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara) and Nasri el-Rufai (Kaduna).

But Atiku left the ruling party for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in November last year, when it became clear, as some of the President’s supporters predicted, that he (Buhari) would be fit to re-contest in 2019.

The source, who confirmed that some of the APC presidential hopefuls will toe Atiku’s path, said: “There will be movements out of the APC in the days ahead. And the likely destination for those who would be leaving is the PDP. But the challenge some of them will face is whether the former ruling party will open its door to them given the way they dumped the party ahead of the 2015 elections, which contributed to the party’s loss of the presidency to the APC.”

He ruled out the option of the would-be defectors joining the third force being championed by for President Olusegun Obasanjo, saying the PDP provided a more veritable platform for anyone who intends to unseat the APC.

“Yes, those behind the third force have been mobilizing Nigerians ahead of the 2019 elections, but it is likely that it won’t make any impact because you need a platform with structures across the country to defeat an incumbent government. This is where the PDP comes in. So, expect movements into the party any moment from now because no one can stop a sitting president like Buhari from picking the APC ticket.

“And one thing that the APC members are likely to cash in on is the PDP’s resolve to field a younger candidate in the 2019 presidential election. Some of them are young and fit into the calculation of the opposition party,” he said.

The source added that though some people in the presidency have dismissed the one-term deal allegedly entered into by Buhari, the PDP and ACN camps of the APC feel betrayed as they have to wait till 2023 before they can take a shot at the number one position as the CPC camp, which produced the president in 2015, is insisting on going for a second term.

His words: “There was a mutual agreement in 2015 that the various camps that formed the APC will take turns at the presidency, which informed the one term deal, but now that the CPC camp is insisting on Buhari’s second term, what do you expect the PDP and ACN camps to do because they have to wait till 2023, and that is for those from the southern part of the country.

“For those from the North, they have to wait till 2031, given that after Buhari’s second term in 2023, if he wins in 2019, power will shift to the South for another eight years. The question is: Where will the northern elements who are also interested in the presidency now be in the next eight to nine years?

“Kwankwaso is 61 years old now, by 2032, he will be 70; Saraki is 55 years old now. By 2031, he will be 64; Tambuwal is 52; he will be 62 then; Shettima is 51 and by 2031, he will be 60, while El-Rufai, who is 58 years old now, would be 67 by then.

“This was the main reason why Atiku, who is 72, left the APC. If he had remained in the party and opted out of the 2019 race because Buhari is contesting, he would be 77 by 2023, when power is expected to return to the South. Can the former vice president afford to wait for another eight years after 2023 to actualise his dream?

“Would he be disposed to run for the presidency again at 85 in 2031, when power will return to the North, if the power shift arrangement still subsists? Would he still have the financial strength to fund the project, and what happens if a new power bloc emerges in the North by then?”
Last night, efforts to speak to the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, proved abortive. He did not pick his calls nor replied to text message sent to him.

Nitefury:
Damn. Going by the prosecuting counsel's statement, dude knew what he was doing and really wanted them dead. Why he killed his daughter too is what I don't understand. Perhaps a psychopath

Again, the report says he had always been habitually violent towards her yet she never left him probably because she one of those fish brained ladies who stay in abusive relationships because they'd rather cry in Banana Island than be single (and possible broke) but happy and in peace in Lagos Island.

God rest their souls.

FortifiedCity:


When Nigerian police say 'forensics', it means 'according to what they said '

They do not have the man power to do real forensics. 90 percent of them are duuummmmbbbbbb!!!!!

Did I also say they might free that man. Okay I just did.

bettercreature:
Yes they are very solid at the back and deadly on counter I just hope Madrid gets them.This Madrid team is very weak they are just riding on their luck
They used ojuju calabar to beat PSG( park the bus and counter) I just don’t want them to win 3 consecutive champions league
Life is live and let live

akeentech:
UEFA's aim


1 Spain


1 England


1 Italy


1 Germany